The Sydney suburbs in bushfire danger on a day of ‘catastrophic’ conditions
From Sydney’s Sutherland Shire in the south to Hornsby in the north and Springwood in the west, “anywhere near bushland is at threat today”.
Although the entire Greater Sydney region will experience “catastrophic” fire conditions today, authorities have clarified those at the greatest risk are in “bush prone” areas.
“Please make sure you heed the messages no matter where you are, whether you are in our regions, whether you are in metropolitan areas,” NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said this morning.
“Anywhere near bushland is at threat today.
“We need to make sure every community member takes the opportunity to assess their situation and act with precaution in every possible manner.”
The Greater Sydney area spans west to the Blue Mountains and north to the Central Coast.
The Greater Hunter and Illawarra/Shoalhaven areas, including Wollongong to the south of Sydney, have also been given a catastrophic fire danger rating for Tuesday — as bad as it gets.
Follow our live coverage of the NSW and Queensland bushfires here.
“Is the NSW RFS telling people to evacuate? No,” the service tweeted overnight.
“A simple thing to do is avoid bush fire prone areas.
“Safer areas may be a large town or city, shopping centres or facilities far away from bushland areas.”
The NSW RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons has said under the warning, symbolised by thick black and red lines, people “can expect the most extraordinary fire behaviour”.
“It is not without question that spotting activity can be well and truly over 20 kilometres ahead of the main fire front,” he said yesterday.
Download the Fires Near Me NSW smartphone app for iOS and Android devices here.
RELATED: Full list of NSW schools closed on Tuesday
Tuesday marks the first day since the new NSW fire danger ratings were introduced in 2009 that Sydney has been considered at a “catastrophic” risk.
Disaster modelling consultancy Risk Frontiers has found more than 100,000 homes in the Sydney bracket are within 100m of bushland, resilience general manager Andrew Gissing told Sky News today.
Almost a third of those are on Sydney’s north shore including about 15,000 properties across Turramurra, Hornsby, Wahroonga and Thornleigh, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Springwood in the Blue Mountains has almost 6500 properties close to or in the bush, with another 4000 in neighbouring Blaxland.
Almost 9000 homes in Engadine and Menai, to the south of the city in the Sutherland Shire, are also considered at-risk areas, according to the company’s modelling.
The data analysis revealed barely any properties in the inner west, eastern suburbs or western suburbs surrounding Parramatta were within 100m of bushland.
A statewide total fire ban remains in force today due to dangerous fire conditions. Catastrophic fire danger in Sydney, Hunter, Illawarra. Widespread severe and extreme fire danger. #nswrfs #nswfires pic.twitter.com/W1DIr1Mmeu
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) November 11, 2019
“They (the fires) can rapidly spread in minutes, we’ve got winds forecast today around Sydney of around 60km/h.” Mr Gissing said.
“That especially means people living up around the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, the Blue Mountains, around the Royal National Park and places around the Lane Cove National Park too.
“Sydney is a leafy, bush city. It’s the reason why we love it so much but it also gives us this bushfire risk on these catastrophic fire days.”
Mr Gissing said when looking back at devastating bushfires in the past, such as Tathra in 2018, the distance from the bushland is the single most important factor determining the probability of a building being destroyed.
He told Sky News the vast majority of homes destroyed in bushfires are within 500m of bushland.
After the King Lake and Marysville blazes in Victoria in 2009, part of the Black Saturday fires, 90 per cent of the homes destroyed were within 100m of the bushland, Mr Gissing said.
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast hot, sunny and windy conditions in Sydney today with a “gusty southerly change” in the early evening.
A smoke haze settled over Sydney on Tuesday morning. The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment has issued a “poor” air quality forecast for the city due to elevated levels of “atmospheric particulate matter” across the day.
RELATED: Bushfire conditions to turn ‘nasty’ as weather worsens
The RFS commissioner expanded on his comments on Tuesday.
“Under the catastrophic conditions, not being in bush fire prone areas is clearly the safest option,” Mr Fitzsimmons said this morning.
“Leaving early and leaving well ahead of any fire in your area is the safest option.
“Safest options might include going to a local shopping centre, going into town where you’re not in the bushfire prone area.
“We’ve deliberately closed parks, we’ve deliberately closed open areas, it’s all in the interests of safety.”
Emergency Services Minister David Elliott said today is “a day to mitigate for your own risk”.
“That means that under legislation, it is the law for you to obey the directions of any RFS officer or any other emergency service officer for your own safety,” he said.
“No ifs, no buts. You’ve got to do it.”
There are 3000 firefighters deployed or on standby across NSW today.
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